Hi all,

Posting on behalf of my mum who has recently been flooded-but not for the first time.

The history... she has lived in the same property for 25 years which is owned by a housing association. The flooding has incurred on the public highway outside the house where, on a number of occasions, water has collected. The drains are always blocked and never cleaned dispite many phonecalls, correspondance etc... This is turn leads to a rapid water build up and water enters the house. This has proved very frustrating over the years as the council never seem to do anything and has cost my mother alot of money. This time however the flooding has damaged my mother's car to the point where it has been written off. Enough is enough! Can any compensation be claimed?

You should write to the Council's Insurance Team detailing this incident, the damage to the car and the history of the situation.

If you have suffered damage as a result of flooding due to the poor maintenance of the drains then you should claim. But please note that this will not be easy because your Local Highways Authority are responsible for maintaining the 'Gullys' but your local Water Company will be responsible for maintaining the sewer in which the surface water runs into. Therefore with high probability the council will try and pass the buck to the water company.

Your 'Gullys' in your road should be cleaned once a year, and there should be records to prove this. Make a request for the records and see what dates your road is supposed to be cleaned. Bear in mind that just because your road is scheduled for maintenance say in April, not all of the gullys will be cleaned due to parked vehicles etc, so be cautious of any information that you receieve.

Aviva and Mr G.

Thank you both for the advice. Will take on board.

My mother has written a letter of complaint to the council which has been acknowledged. Will update when a further response has been recieved.

Cheers!